Band: Yurt | Album: VI – Rippling Mirrors of the Other | Genre: Progressive rock | Year: 2025
From: Dublin, Ireland | Label: Independent
For fans of: Cardiacs, 5uu’s, early Devo, Voivod
Yurt is a band I’ve been following for a while, and I have featured them on this site once before. They’re an experimental rock band based out of Dublin, and they’ve always got something exciting up their sleeves. Their music draws inspiration from various strains of metal, punk, psychedelia, and avant-garde styles of music. My personal favorite of theirs is III – Molluskkepok, but their new record, VI – Rippling Mirrors of the Other, is a solid addition to their discography.
The album opens with “The Cormorant Tree”. A long build up of crunching guitar, squeaking synths, and thumping drums build to an odd, off-kilter main riff. It’s somewhere between doom metal and avant-prog, and the eventual verse has a heavily psychedelic air to it. Yurt’s style is very busy, and that is on full display here. Gang vocals, constantly-churning drums, and unusual guitar and keyboard lines fill up every inch or auditory space.
Yurt veers off into some spacier moments in the song’s second half. Lush synths and electronic effects evoke an astral openness, but it’s always paired with crunchy passages for contrast. The song concludes on a reprise of the verse, with glassy organ and tangled guitars coming together in carefully-orchestrated chaos.
“Seventh Is the Skut” is jumpy with math rock and post-punk influences. Buzzy guitars and bright synths bounce around in odd meters as this piece moves through peaks and valleys of intensity. There’s a great balance of leaning into a solid groove and then exploring some weirder moments.
Following that instrumental excursion, Yurt’s next big epic is “Pagpag Variations”. The opening riff to this is almost straightforward. The vocal melody is a real earworm, and following that first verse, the band launches into some odder musical ideas. Riffs become more technical, and big synths add some great texture.
Things really start to get wonky around the six-mute mark. Synths bloop irregularly, chimes and wheezing organ swirl about, and bits of guitar and bass crop up to momentarily take center stage. While there are some fun ideas in this midsection, things do go off the rails at moments, and it goes on for longer than it needs to. This reminds me a lot of some of King Crimson’s more improv-heavy pieces.
“From the Maggots Perspective” has a dreamier feel, with organ being the lead instrument here. Textures ripple and swoop, and the mood is relatively mellow, at least by Yurt’s standards. It’s a nice little change of pace.
“The Shop of Most Auspicious Frog” is another instrumental cut, this time focusing more on atmosphere than technical riffage. Saxophone squeals across the soundscape, and effects-laden guitar and synth slur their way across a relatively restrained rhythmic backing.
Rippling Mirrors of the Other concludes on “Sun Roasted Rodent”. The opening riff is somewhat blocky and stiff, but whining synth embellishments add some great textural intrigue. As the song progresses into a mellower passage, Pink Floyd’s influence can be heard. Diminished chords and demented vocal intonation lend this song an apocalyptic feel in the verse.
Doom and sludge metal flavors again emerge in this epic’s conclusion. Extraterrestrial synth tones make for a striking pairing, and Yurt demonstrates that they are always able to keep the listener on their toes. Krautrock influences creep into the rhythm, giving a strong sense of urgency.
Yurt’s sixth record sees Yurt continue to innovate and evolve in their unique little niche. The music is often driving and powerful, driven along by unusual chords and oddball riffs. There is a bit of excess at moments, but the record as a whole is a solid one.
Score: 82/100
The Elite Extremophile 